Thank you everyone who has reviewed so far – I really appreciate it.

To redconvoy – you don't know how close you are to the truth.

To everyone else – enjoy!


Chapter 5 – Plotting

Two weeks later Ryou and Bakura's relationship was still going strong.

Every night Ryou and Malik would sneak out to the bar to visit their boyfriends. Every morning they would sneak back to the palace for a few hours sleep before waking up for breakfast.

Ryou's schedule was pretty relaxed and so he was able to sleep for most of the day. Malik, being Ryou's personal assistant, spent most of his time with Ryou, which meant that he also was able to sleep the day away.

Unfortunately Ryou was less use to doing this sort of thing, and it was beginning to show.

Nearly every night Ryou would meet with his brother Yami to have dinner. The bags under Ryou's eyes and his constant vacant expression had not gone unnoticed. Yami wanted to know what his brother was up to but Ryou always dodged the subject when it was brought up.

Yami put his feet up on the stool and lay back in his chair, sighing contently. The day was finally over and he could relax – or be as close to relaxing as he could when he had a mystery to solve. The mystery of what his brother did every night to make him so tired.

The best way to solve the mystery would be to have someone watch him. Maybe Malik could…

Yami dismissed that thought. Malik was probably encouraging Ryou to do…whatever it was he was doing.

Maybe he could have someone watch Ryou's room and then follow him if he was seen leaving. If he wasn't seen leaving then that meant that he either knew another way out or he and Malik were…

Yami shook his head violently. He was not going to think such a ridiculous thing; he was going to go back to the thought before that. Yes, who was he going to hire to follow Ryou?

Suddenly there was a knock at the door that effectively pulled Yami off his thought path. He growled quietly and called, "Come in!"

The door opened slightly and a pair of amethyst eyes peered inside apprehensively. "Am I disturbing you Your Majesty?"

Yami's irritation at being disturbed automatically disappeared when he saw that spiked tri-coloured hair and heard that sweet voice. "Oh, you're not disturbing anything. Please come in Yugi," he said, smiling happily.

Nervously, Yugi walked over and stood in front of Yami's chair. The king looked tired and when he was tired he had a tendency to snap at people. Yugi didn't want to be the one to set him off.

"Please take a chair Yugi," Yami said, noticing that Yugi was still standing.

Yugi sat down and relaxed when he saw Yami's smile. "I'm glad you're not upset that I disrupted your quiet time," he said, smiling again.

As a servant, Yugi wasn't supposed to talk to the king if it wasn't a matter to do with work. But Yugi was different. Yami enjoyed his company and they often discussed things together (in private, of course).

"Don't worry Yugi – I'm always glad to see you." Yugi's cheeks turned pink. Yami quickly switched topic. "Actually, I need your help with something."

"Really? What?" Yugi asked, perking up.

"Has Malik said anything about why he looks tired?" Yami asked.

"Not really. Apparently he sneaks out every night to visit someone. But that's just typical Malik behaviour – he does it all the time. The other servants have made a game of betting on how long they think each fling will last."

Well at least that eliminated one of Yami's fears. "Is that all he says?"

Yugi nodded. Yami sighed and leaned back in his chair. Dead end on asking Malik to help him.

"What's wrong?" Yugi asked, looking concerned.

"You mean apart from the fact that I just realized that it was a stupid idea to let Malik be in charge of looking after and setting a good example for my brother?" Yami replied, looking back at Yugi. "It's Ryou. He's up to something and I want to know what."

"So you think Ryou's trying to assassinate you?"

Yami laughed. "I highly doubt that Ryou would even dream of doing something like that."

"Maybe he would if he found out you were invading his privacy."

Yami stopped laughing. The voice of reason had a point. "I'm just worried about him. I don't think he knows what he's getting himself into. It must be bad if he won't even admit that there's something wrong. And before you ask, I hear that he's becoming nocturnal – don't tell me that that's not a problem."

"Why not ask Malik?"

"Because for some strange reason I think that this is actually all Malik's fault."

"Isn't it always?" Yugi said, smiling.

Yami nodded, also smiling. "Remind me to fire him someday."

They sat in silence for awhile, wondering how to restart the conversation. In the end it was Yugi who spoke first. "So…what are you going to do about Ryou?"

Yami sighed. "I was thinking of having someone follow him – to find out where he goes every night. Only question is: who do I choose?"

Yugi sat and pondered for a moment. "How about Jou?" he suggested.

Yami laughed. "Jou's not exactly the most silent and stealthy person I've ever met."

Yugi nodded. Knowing Jou he'd probably trip over something in the street and automatically alert Ryou that he was being followed. "What about Mokuba? He's quiet and inconspicuous."

Yami stared. "Are you crazy? For one: Kaiba would never forgive me if anything ever happened to his little brother. An angry Lord Kaiba equals assassination attempt."

"What's the other reason?" Yugi asked nervously.

"I think Ryou's gone somewhere where a ten year old would stick out like a sore thumb."

Yugi sighed and racked his brain for someone else who could do what the king desired. An idea suddenly popped into his head. "What about Honda?"

"Isn't he a member of the royal guard?" Yami asked thoughtfully. Yugi nodded.

Honda would be a good choice – silent, swift, inconspicuous when out of uniform…It was the best suggestion so far. "Is he trustworthy? Could he keep this a secret?" Yami asked, leaning forward slightly.

Yugi nodded. "He'd love to be able to serve you personally. Any soldier would."

Yami smiled – he'd made his choice. "It's getting late; I'll talk to Honda tomorrow."

Right on cue, Yugi yawned. "I think maybe I should head off to bed now," he said, rubbing at his eye with a balled fist.

Yami nodded. "Goodnight," he said as Yugi walked out the door.

Yami gave him a small smile. "Goodnight Your Majesty," he said before shutting the door.

When Yugi was gone, Yami swore quietly. "Damn it. We nearly had a whole conversation without him saying that more than once."


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